Film pack construction



March 8, 1938. J. ISAAC FILM PACK CONSTRUCTION Filed May 29, 1937 JosephIsaac 1N VENT OR.

ATTORNEYS Patented 8, 1938 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE man KodakCompany, Rochester N. Y., a corporation of New Jersey Application May29,

8 Claims.

'lhis invention relates to photography and particularly to film packsfor holding a series of light-sensitive photographic films in a casingfor exposure. One object of my invention is to provide an improved formof 111m packl casing in which the light trap between the casing members,through which the film pack tabs pass, is irnproved. Another object ofmy invention is to provide a film pack in which the center member lowhich separates the pack into two chambers, one for exposed nlm and theotherfor unexposed film, is properly centered in the film pack and inwhich the bottom of the center septum is definitely spaced away from thebottom of the pack to u facilitate moving films from one chamber to theother. Another object of my invention is to provide an exposed lmchamber in which there is a light-protecting rib extending entirelyacross one of the film pack casing members, this member bethrough thetab opening. Still another object of my invention is to provide a filmpack casing with a formed up rib extending across one of the casingmembers, this rib adapted to position one of the light trapping membersand lying beneath a flange on one of the light trapping members so thatthe smooth outside contour of the fllm pack may be preserved and otherobjects will appear from the following speciflcation, the novel featuresbeing particularly pointed out in the claims at the end thereof.

This fllm pack is an improvement over the lm pack shown in U. S. Patent1,219,588, A. A. Rutan and C. E. Hutchings, granted March 20, 1917.

Coming now to the drawing wherein like reference characters denote likeparts throughout, Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a lm pack constructedin accordance with and embodying a preferred form of my invention.

Fig. 2 is a rear plan view of the film pack shown in Fig. 1.

1|'lg.v3 is an enlarged sectional view through a film pack constructedin accordance with my invention, the parts being shown purposely on anexaggerated scale and mostA of the films and film pack tabs beingomitted for the sake of clearness.

Fig. 4 is a plan view of the rear casing member showing part of a septumin place to indicate the relation of the septum and rear film packcasing member.

Fig. 5 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view taken on line 5-5 ofFig. 4 and Fig. 6 is an enlarged fragmentary perspective view of aportion of the septum before the light- 55 locking material is added tothe septum.

ing adapted to prevent light from entering 1937, Sel'lnl No. 145,505

There has been considerable dimculty in excluding all undesirable lightfrom metallic film packs due to the fact that when the metal is roughlyhandled it may become slightly distorted or bent from its original shapeso that light is permitted to enter sometimes fogging thephotographically light-sensitive'fllms contained therein. Thisdifficulty did not occur to such a great extent with the old cardboardor paper film packs because the vulnerable places were covered withpasters to exclude light. However, such pack suffered the disadvantageof not being sufficiently rigidto hold the film accurately in a focalplane. The present invention is particularly directed to overcoming thedifficulties in known types of fllm packs.

In the drawing, I have illustrated a preferred embodiment of myinvention in which the film pack casing may be made of two shallowbox-like receptacles I and 2, the front section I of which is providedwith a front wall 3 including an exposure frame l, side walls 5 and atop wall 6 partially cut away at 1 to leave an opening 8 through whichfilm pack tabs 9 may project vas indicated in Figs. 2 and 3. The rearsection 2 has an imperforate rear wall Il i, side walls Il and the topwall I2 is cut away to form the opposite side of a slot through whichthe film packs 9 may be drawn. The bottom wall I3 of casing section I isprovided with an up-turned flange I4 so that the bottom wall I5 ofcasing section 2 may be held in place as indicated in Fig. 3.

Thus the two casing sections are both shallow box-like receptacles withtheir edge walls in contact, these two sections being held together by aremovable locking flange I5 which extends down over a portion of therear wall I0 of casing section 2 and which carries flanges II extendingover portions of the side walls 5 as indicated in Fig. 1. Member I6 isbent upon itself at Il so that the flange I9 may extend down inside oithe slot 5 and a flange 2II is bent over on the lower edge of plush orpile material 2i to hold it in place. This pile material forms one sideof a light-lock and the other side is formed of similar material 22which fabric is held by a formed over flange 2l which,v as indicated inFigs. 4 and 5, forms a portion of the upper portion 24 of the partitionor septum which separates the film pack into two sections. This septumcomprises a frame-like member 25 from which arms 2l extend inwardly tosupport four spring arms 21. 'Ihe bottom layer 28 of the septum is bentinto the shape of a. semi-circle 29 as indicated in Fig. 3 so that thefilms F which are attached to the usual tabs 3 may be drawn around thiscurved member from the unexposed nlm chamber 33 on one side oi theseptum'2 to the exposed nlm chamber 3| on the opposite side of theseptum In order to hold the nlms nat against the exposure frame 4, inpomtion for exposure, there is a presser plate 32 engaged by the fourspring arms 21 and thrusted thereby against the back oi' the backingpaper supporting the nlms F in front of the exposure window.

Normally, such nlm packs carry twelve nlms, but for the sake ofclearness.- I have shown only one nlm with -its backing paper in frontof the exposure frame and only one nlm with its vbacking paper in theexposed nlm chamber 3|. presser plate 32- is slotted at 33 so as'toslide on the supporting arm 34 carried by the top rail 24 to locate thisseptum longitudinally of the nlm of the septum frame 25 as indicated inFig. 4. 'I'he end-ofthis member is formed upwardly at and the upper edge36 of the rail 24 is bent parallel to the top wall 6 of the nlm packcasing s o that it will locate the septum 25 from the front. nlm packsection I.

' In order to locate the frame from the rear nlm pack casing section 2,and thus hold itin place, a pair of nanged rails 31 are provided a'sindicated in Fig. 6 these flanges being adapted to contact with the rearwall of the casing section 2. Thus the septum frame 25 is dennitelylocated laterally ofthe nlm pack sections and it is also desirable packsections.

'Ihis is done in the following manner: The rear nlm pack 2, as indicatedin Figs. 3 and 4, is provided with a formed metal rib 33, this ribextending inwardly from one side wall of the casing to the other. Itperforms a number of useful functions.

First, this rib forms a support for the ears 4|!V bent from the top offlange 23 of the nlm pack septum as indicated in Figs. 5 and 6. Theseears are adapted to engage the upper tapering wall 4I withoutperforating the end walls of the section 2 which of course would beundesirable.

Thus, since the ears rest on the top of the forming 39, the lowerrounded end 29 of the nlm packseptum is definitely spaced a nxeddistance from the bottom walls I5 and I3 of the nlm pack section.

Second, the rib 39 greatly assists in rendering the slot 8 through whichthe nlm pack tabs project light-tight. The reason for this is that thelower end of the flange I9 which holdsl the pile material 2|- for halfof the light-lock is so positioned that it lies adjacent the upper edgeof the forming 39 and thus any light which might pass between thev nangeI3 'and the upper end of the rear wall of the casing section 2--whichsometimes occurs at the extreme ends of the light lock-is prevented frompassing downwardly into the exposed nlm chamber 3|.

Thirdly, the forming 39 is spaced from the bottom walls of the casingsections I3 and I5 a' distance somewhat less than the length of a nlmwhich has been exposed and has been drawn into the exposed nlm chamber3| so that the nlms, after they have been exposed, lie in the positionshown in Fig. 3 with the upper end of the nlms F spaced away from therear nlm pack casing section a short distance near the rib 33. 'Ihistends The' to hold the nlms close together at the top and likewise tendsto hold the nim from beneath the nange I3 and the upper end of the nlmpack casing. The reason why this is advantageous is that' if the nangemember I5 should become slightly distorted, the tendency for light leakto occur is increased and when light does enter, it usually enters theextreme edges, the reason probably being that it is usually impossibleto carry the nange 23 over to the extreme edge ofthe nanges 31 as shownin Fig. 6. Thus, light leak age would normally occur nrst in thedirection shown by the arrow A in Fig. 6. This leakage of light,however, is completely `eliminated by the forming -33' because thisforming extends over to the extreme outside edges of the nlm pack\`section 2.

\ In order to prevent the forming 33 i'rom spoiling the smooth outsidecontour of the nlm pack. nange I6 is made long enough to cover thetorming so that, as indicated in Fig. 2. this forming is Vnot apparentwhen looking at the pack casing from the back as indicated in Fig. 2.

Thus the rib 33 serves a number of useful -functions in the nlm packconstruction and vminimizes the possibilities of light leak throughrough handling to such an extent that the nlm pack tab slot l can besaid to be practically light'- proof.

` while I have iuustrated and described a preferred embodiment oi' myinvention, it is possible to change the dimensions and alter therelative positions and shapes of the various parts without departingfrom my invention as denned in the following claims.

What I claim is:

1. In a casing for nlm packs, the combination with a front sectionincluding a shallow -box-like structure having an exposure frametherein. o! a back section including a shallow box-like structure, thewalls of the shallow box-like structure being adapted to engage eachother when assembled, an embossing extending entirely across the backcasing section, a light locking member comprising a strip of pilefabric, a metal member having a nange folded over on said pile fabric,the folded-over edge of said metal member lying adjacent the embossingextending across the nlm pack casing whereby a light-tight connection isprovided.

2. In a casing for nlm packs, the combination with a front sectionincluding a shallow box-like structure having an exposure frame therein,of a back section including a shallow box-like stmoture, the walls ofthe shallow box-like structure being adapted to engage each other whenassembled, an embossing extending entirely across the back casingsection, a light locking member comprising a strip of pile fabric, thefolded-over edge of said metal member lying adiacent the embossingextending across the 'nlm pack casing whereby a light-tight connectionis provided. said nanged metal member having a second nange extendingover the outside rear wall of the nlm pack and covering the embossing.

3. In a nlm pack, the combination with two inter-engaging shallowbox-like members, o'f one having an exposure frame therein and bothincluding a cut-away top wail to provide a nlm pack tab slot, apartition dividing the nlm pack into an exposed nlm chamber, and anunexposed nlm chamber, a plurality of nlms including backing papers andtabs mounted in the nlm pack casing, light locking members lining thetab slot through which nlm pack tabs project, and means for preventingexposed iilms from lying flat against the rear wall of the casing nearthe light-lock including a forming in the shallow boxlike memberextending across said member at the end provided with the light lockingmembers.

4. In a film pack, the combination with two inter-engaging shallowbox-like members, of one having an exposure frame therein and bothlncluding a cut-away top wall to provide a film pack tab slot, apartition dividing the lm pack into an exposed film chamber, and anunexposed film chamber, a plurality of films including backing papersand tabs mounted in the illm pack casing, light locking members liningthe tab slot through which film pack tabs project, and means forpreventing exposed films from lying at against the rear wall of thecasing near the light-lock including a forming in the shallow box-likemember extending across said member at the end provided with the lightlocking members, said forming being spaced from an end of the film packa distance less than the length of a film whereby a film lying in theexposed nlm chamber may be spaced from the rear wall of the illm back.

5. In a casing for film packs, the combination with front and rearsections each in the shape of shallow box-like structures, the frontsection including an exposure frame and both sections including an endwith cut-away portions forming a iilm pack tab slot, light trappingmembers on each side of the slot through which the tabs pass, the rearsection including a formed rib projecting inwardly just beneath one ofsaid light trapping members and extending across the entire width of therear section, and forming with said light trapping member an additionalmeans of excluding light from the interior of the illm pack casing.

6. In a casing for film packs, the combination with front and rearsections each in the shape of shallow box-like structures, the frontsection including an exposure frame and both sections including an endwith cut-away portions forming a lm pack tab slot, light trappingmembers on each side of the slot through which the tabs pass, the rearsection including a formed rib projecting inwardly just beneath one ofsaid light trapping members, said rib including oppositely slantingwalls terminating in a flat top and extending across the entire width ofthe rear section, and forming with said light trapping member anadditional means of excluding light from the interior of the film packcasing.

7. In a casing for film packs, the combination with a front sectionincluding a shallow box-like structure, having an exposure frametherein, of a back section including a shallow box-like structure, thewalls of the shallow boxlike structures being adapted to engage eachother when assembled, an embossing extending entirely across the backcasing section, a septum dividing the casing into an exposed filmchamber and an unexposed film chamber, a formed overedge on the lowerend of said casing about which the illrns may be drawn from one chamberto the other and means for spacing said formed overedge fromthe endwalls of the casing comprising a pair of spaced lugs adapted to engageportions of said embossing extending across the back casing section.

8. In a casing for film packs, the combination with a front sectionincluding a shallow box-like structure, having an exposure frametherein, of a back section including a shallow box-like structure, thewalls of the shallow box-like structures being adapted to engage eachother when assembled, an embossing extending entirely across the backcasing section, a septum dividing the casing into an exposed filmchamber and an unexposed iilm chamber, a formed over flange on theseptum adapted to contact with the front wall section of the film packcasing, a pair of spaced lugs adapted to contact with the formed upembossing on the rear film pack casing section, whereby said septum islocated both transversely and longitudinally of the casing.

` JOSEPH ISAAC.

